List of people from Bath

Looking south from the Pulteney Bridge in Bath

This article provides a non-exhaustive list of famous people born, educated or prominent in Bath, Somerset, England, or otherwise associated with the city. The list is alphabetical within each sub-section. Bathonian is the term for somebody who comes from Bath.

Acting

The Theatre Royal

• Jennifer Biddall^[1]
• Adam Campbell – actor in Epic Movie and Date Movie.^[2]
• Julia Davis^[3]
• Anthony Head.^[4]
• Jonathan Hyde^[5]
• Andrew Lincoln^[6]
• Jonathan Lynn – actor, writer and director.^[7]
• Leo McKern – Rumpole actor.^[8]
• Tom Payne^[9]
• Arnold Ridley^[10]
• Sarah Siddons – 18th-century actress^[11]
• Indira Varma^[12]
• Angelica Mandy – in Vanity Fair and Harry Potter series as Gabrielle Delacour.
• Kym Jackson
• Michael Gwynn

Architecture

The Palladian Bridge, Prior Park Gardens

• Robert Adam – architect of Pulteney Bridge, also produced unexecuted designs for the Assembly Rooms and Bathwick estate.^[13]
• Thomas Baldwin – architect of Great Pulteney Street and Bath Guildhall.^[14]
• Sir Reginald Blomfield – architect of the Bath War Memorial and extension of the Holbourne Museum.^[15]
• Thomas Fuller – emigrated to Canada, where he co-designed the Parliament House in Ottawa.^[16]
• Frederick Gibberd – architect of Bath Technical College.^[17]
• Henry Goodridge – architect of Beckford's Tower, Cleveland Bridge and The Corridor shopping arcade^[18]
• Sir Thomas Graham Jackson – architect of the World War I memorial aisle Bath Abbey.^[19]
• William Eden Nesfield – architect, one of the leaders of the Gothic revival in England
• John Palmer – architect of the Pump Room and Lansdown Crescent.^[20]
• C. J. Phipps – Theatre Royal, Bath and other theatres around Britain.^[21]
• John Pinch the elder – the original Royal United Hospital.^[22]
• John Pinch the younger – architect
• Charles Harcourt Masters – active in Bathwick including Sydney Gardens.^[23]
• Sir George Gilbert Scott – restoration of Bath Abbey, architect of St Andrew's church destroyed by bombs during World War II.^[24]
• Frederick William Stevens – architect, emigrated to India.^[25]
• John Wood, the Elder – architect of Queen Square and the Circus.^[26]
• John Wood, the Younger – architect of the Royal Crescent.^[27]

Art

• Roy Ascott – new media artist
• Daniel A. Baker – artist*
• Sir Peter Blake lived in Wellow village,near Bath, during the 1970s^[28]
• Peter Brown – painter^[29]
• Thomas Gainsborough – painter^[30]
• Sir Thomas Lawrence – painter^[31]

Dance

• Claire Calvert – first soloist at the Royal Ballet

Education

• Marie Bethell Beauclerc – first female shorthand teacher and reporter in England.^[32]
• Sir Raymond Carr – historian.^[33]
• Roderick Kedward – historian.^[34]
• Sir Isaac Pitman – inventor of shorthand.^[35]
• Robert Craven – author of business books^[36]
• William Harbutt – headmaster and inventor of Plasticine.^[37]

Entertainment (general)

Street performance near Bath Abbey

• Russell Howard – comedian.^[38]
• Jesse Honey – BBC Mastermind champion 2010.^[39]
• Beau Nash – master of ceremonies in Georgian Bath.^[40]
• Bill Bailey – comedian, musician, actor, TV and radio presenter and author.

Exiles

• Louis XVIII – prior to ascending the French throne.^[41]
• Haile Selassie I – during World War II^[42]

Fashion

• Manolo Blahnik – shoe designer^[43]
• James Buckley Thorp – founder of Bath clothing brand Rupert and Buckley

Film-making

• David Lassman – screenwriter^[44]
• Ken Loach – film director.^[45]
• Charlie McDonnell – YouTube star as "Charlieissocoollike".^[46]

Food

• Mary Berry CBE – food writer born in Bath and made a freeman of the city.^[47]
• Sally Lunn cake – probably a corruption of the French phrase "soleil et lune" referring to a type of cake originally made by Protestant refugees from France, but other derivations have been given.^[48] A Bath tea shop bears the name.^[49]
• Dr William Oliver – inventor of the Bath Oliver biscuit and a founder of the Royal Mineral Water Hospital.^[50]

Government

The Parade Gardens

• Sir Henry Cole – civil servant.^[51]
• William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham – prime minister and MP for Bath 1757 to 1766.^[52]
• William Pitt the Younger – prime minister.^[53]
• Sir William Tite – architect and MP for Bath 1855–1873.^[54]
• Chris Patten – MP for Bath 1979-1992.^[55] Governor of Hong Kong 1992-1997.
• Don Foster – MP for Bath 1992 to 2015.^[56]

Literature

• Jane Austen – novelist;^[57] Joan Aiken reports that Austen did not love the city; when she learned her family were moving to Bath, "she fainted dead away."^[58]
• William Thomas Beckford – wrote Vathek and a series of works on travel^[59]
• Henrietta Maria Bowdler – novelist and editor, died in Bath on 25 February 1830.^[60]
• Jane Bowdler – poet and essayist, was born at Ashley, near Bath, on 14 February 1743 and died there in 1784.^[61]
• John Bowdler – moral reformer and religious writer, born in Bath on 18 March 1746.^[62]
• Thomas Bowdler – physician and expurgator of Shakespeare, was born at Box, near Bath, on 11 July 1754.^[63]
• Charles Dickens – novelist, frequent visitor to the city and set much of the Pickwick Papers in the city.^[64]
• Henry Fielding – novelist^[65]
• "Rita" (Eliza Margaret Jane Humphreys. 1850–1938) – wrote A Grey life,a novel set in Bath. She lived at Combe Down from c. 1923, and is buried in Bath Abbey Cemetery.^[66]
• Morag Joss – novelist^[67]
• David Lassman – novelist born in Bath, co-author of the Regency Detective series.
• Richard Brinsley Sheridan – playwright^[68]
• Tobias Smollett – physician, surgeon and novelist, partly set The Expedition of Humphry Clinker in the city, wrote essay on the waters of Bath^[69]
• Geoffrey Trease – children's novelist, author of the Bannermere series^[70]
• Mary Shelley – novelist, author of Frankenstein.^[71]
• Jacqueline Wilson – children's author, born in Bath.^[72]

Modelling

• Kayleigh Pearson – glamour model

Music

Beckford's Tower on Lansdown Hill

• Gabrielle Aplin – singer/songwriter^[73]
• Danny Byrd – Drum and Bass artist signed to Hospital Records^[74]
• Eddie Cochran – rock'n'roll musician, died in Bath^[75]
• Peter Gabriel – musician^[76]
• Interview – New Wave band
• Alison Goldfrapp – singer of Goldfrapp^[77]
• Peter Hammill – musician
• Raymond Leppard – conductor, educated Beechen Cliff School^[78]
• Naked Eyes – musical group^[79]
• Thomas Linley – musician^[80]
• Alberto Fernanco Riccardo Semprini – pianist^[81]
• Peter Salisbury – drummer and percussionist of The Verve
• Tears for Fears – musical group^[82]
• Midge Ure
• The Family Rain
• Propellerheads

Postal service

• Ralph Allen (1693–1764) – postal reformer, quarry owner and mayor, who developed first nationwide cross-country postal network^[83]
• John Palmer (1742–1818) – inventor of lightweight mail coach^[84]

Science

• Adelard of Bath – astronomer, philosopher and mathematician^[85]
• Adela Breton – artist and archaeologist, primarily known for recording Mexican frescos in the 1890s.^[86]
• Mike Cowlishaw – computer scientist and engineer^[87]
• Richard Lovell Edgeworth – writer and inventor^[88]
• David Hartley (the Younger) – philosopher and inventor^[89]
• William Herschel – astronomer, discoverer of Uranus and musician^[90]
• Thomas Robert Malthus – philosopher and economist^[91]
• Richard J. Roberts – Nobel-prize-winning biochemist^[92]

Sport

• George Attfield – first-class cricketer active in the 1840s and 1850s.^[93]
• Roger Bannister – athlete, first man to run sub-4-minute mile^[94]
• Olly Barkley – England international rugby player^[95]
• Ashley Barnes – professional football player playing for Burnley F.C.
• Tony Book – football player, former Manchester City captain and manager, part of the Bath-based Book footballing dynasty^[96]
• Jason Dodd – football player, former Southampton captain who holds the record for the most Premiership appearances by an English player without ever being named in an England squad^[97]
• Jason Gardener – athlete, 4 × 100 m Olympic gold medallist^[98]
• Matt Green – professional footballer^[99]
• Jeremy Guscott – England and Bath rugby player^[100]
• Ed McKeever – kayak world champion (K1 200m)^[101]
• Andy Robinson – rugby coach, former England international team coach and Bath Rugby team coach^[102]
• Jack Rowell – Bath Rugby director, former England international team coach and Bath Rugby team coach^[103]
• Ben Rushgrove – paralympic athlete^[104]
• Scott Sinclair – Celtic F.C. player^[105]
• Talan Skeels-Piggins – Paralympic alpine skier^[106]
• Amy Williams – winter Olympic gold medallist.^[107]
• Clive Woodward – British Olympic Committee Director of Elite Performance, former England international team coach and Bath Rugby team coach^[108]

Holy Trinity Church, Combe Down

Religion

• John Hales – theologian^[109]
• William Jay – preacher^[110]
• Oliver King – bishop of Bath and Wells, rebuilt Bath Abbey^[111]
• Abraham Marchant – early Mormon leader, settler of Kamas, Utah^[112]

Royalty

• Queen Anne – visited the city for treatment for gout^[113]
• Edgar of England – crowned king of England in Bath Abbey in 973^[114]
• Queen Elizabeth I – on a visit to the city ordered the restoration of Bath Abbey^[115]
• Mary of Modena – stayed in Bath for treatment for infertility. After she gave birth to Prince James Francis Edward Stuart she paid for a cross to be erected in what became the Cross Baths^[116]
• Queen Victoria – when still a princess stayed in Bath and opened Royal Victoria Park^[117]
• Princess Claire of Belgium – born in Bath.

Warfare

• Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson – admiral, freeman of Bath.^[118]
• Sir William Edward Parry – rear-admiral and Arctic explorer^[119]
• Harry Patch – supercentenarian and last trench veteran of World War I who lived in Combe Down^[120]
• George Wade – field marshal and MP for Bath 1722^[121]
• James Wolfe – general^[122]

References